The Grand Final of the inter-Nation Team Tournament kicked off on Friday night, when Kari_Grandi defeated dorbel to give Finland a 1-0 lead. Kari led early in the 11 point match and took a 6-2 lead, before things swung back Britain's way for dorbel to look strong at 8-6. The next game was the crucial one, with Kari sending in a four cube and winning to lead 10-8 Crawford. Dorbel won that game, but the last went to Kari for a fine win in a great match. On Saturday morning Kari was again in action against jag, but it was an uphill struggle for him all the way and jag ran out 11-8 winner to level the tie at 1-1. More matches are scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 1400UTC, watchers welcome.

Well the great day turned into a triumph for Finland. They stormed to a 5-1 lead, with crushing wins over gnomysTwo and dorbel and clinched victory by 1730 UTC. Many congratulations to Kari_Grandi (captain), reima and Tunari for their thoroughly well deserved victory. They were unstoppable in the group phase, slaughtered Europe in the semi-final and gave GB little chance to shine here. Each player will be awarded a 6 month subscription to Gammon Village and I will be contacting the players to tell them how to claim this. They have already been presented with the stunning virtual trophy, a one metre high solid gold statue of Patti, that unfortunately has to stay locked in a security vault for safe keeping. The Great Britain team will also get a trophy, a priceless plastic statue of a dinosaur from a Corn Flake packet, that might as well stay where it is in my kitchen drawer. They also get a 3 month sub to Gammon Village.May I also thank all those who took part part in this tournament. It was particularly easy to administrate, with a fine sporting and friendly attitude from everybody. I made many new friends and I look forward with keen anticipation to hosting a second event of this type early next year. There will be one or two minor changes to the rules and format, then we will open the lists for entries. As before, we want individual entries from players from all nations. Countries with more than three entrants will select their team by voting for the players that they want. Countries with fewer than three entrants will again be invited to play for area teams, as Europe and the Rest of the World did this time.Look out for announcements on fibs board next year. Seasons Greetings to everyone!